Compelled Into A Fresh Start
by Fenris242
Summary: Elena realizes that she loves both the Salvatore brothers and there's only one thing she can do to prevent history from repeating itself. She goes to the brother she trusts the most to do what needs to be done, but can they stay away from each other?
1. Three Favors

A/N: quickie plotted hopped in my head while at work the other day, and it took me a couple days to lay the foundation for the plot, but here it is...let me know what you guys think of this.....as always, i live for reviews.....

-Fen

* * *

Damon walked into this bedroom and was surprised by the female figure sneaking in the window. He was actually more curious about how she'd gotten to his window than the fact she was climbing in it. "Doors work easier for fragile little human bodies."

Elena held a finger to her mouth. Whispering as softly as she could, "I don't want Stefan knowing I'm here."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Elena? You little minx." Elena rolled her eyes. "And if you'd come to the front door and knocked, you'd know that Stefan's not here."

Elena's shoulders slumped. "Where is he?"

"Hunting, I suppose. In case you hadn't noticed, we're not exactly the Brady Bunch. As long as he's out of my way, I don't care what he does."

"You do care, Damon."

Damon grit his teeth and turned away from her. "So why _are_ you sneaking in my window?" He pretended to play with the items on the corner table in his room. Not really paying attention to what he was doing, he flinched and yanked his hand from the table when he sliced his finger.

"I need to ask three favors of you."

Damon turned around, suddenly very interested in what Elena had to say. First, she's sneaking in his bedroom window, then she makes it clear she doesn't want Stefan knowing she's there, and to top it off, she wanted favors from Damon. Damon's mind starting reeling out the options he had, but unfortunately, the favors she was about to ask of him were not the ones he was playing out in his head.

"I want you to compel me." Damon lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, but also squinted his eyes, not sure what she was playing at. "After everything that's happened, I've made the decision that I don't want this. I can't do this anymore. Everything in my life has turned from happy and going out with my friends to have fun, into misery and protecting my friends from being killed in some mass genocide."

"So you want me to erase your memory of Stefan and myself?"

Elena nodded. "Not completely, because everyone knows I've been dating Stefan. I want you to erase my memory of the two of you being vampires and all the supernatural things I've seen since..."

"Say I do this. What's to stop me from pursuing you with precious Stefan out of the way and your memory off the charts?"

Elena smirked, knowing he would say that. Damon could certainly be predictable at times. "That's favor number two." Damon smiled. She certainly had put a great deal of thought into this. "I want you to promise me you'll avoid me, and keep Stefan out of my life. I don't want to go through with this only to get sucked back into this. No pun intended."

Damon smirked. "Sounds like you've been thinking about this a lot."

"I have. Pretty much nonstop since Isobel left town."

"I only see one problem."

"What's that?" Elena was trying to see what angle she missed.

"That's only two favors. What's the third?"

It was the hardest of the three favors she had to ask of him. Elena turned away from Damon for a moment, before turning back. "If you agree to this, we do it now. Right away, but that's not the favor. When this is all said and done, I need you to tell Stefan, and give him this." Elena held a letter in her hand. She held it out to Damon.

He took the folded piece of paper. "You know I'm going to read it."

"I know."

"Then, let's get this done." Everything inside Damon's body was screaming at him to not go through with Elena's favors and her plan. It would be Katherine all over again, but only this time he would be reminded of his feelings every time he saw Elena walking around Mystic Falls. He dreaded never seeing her smile in his direction again. He feared never arguing with her again, but most of all, he knew he would simply miss her. Her presence, her conversation, her smell, her simply being there to keep the two Salvatore brothers from devouring each other. She wouldn't be there when he told Stefan what he was done. She wouldn't be there to take Stefan to another room and cool him down. No, she'd be safely tucked away in her own life, not even a backwards glance at the Salvatore brothers. "Obviously we can't do this here."

"I thought the park in the center of Mystic Falls would be the easiest."

"Good idea." Damon walked out of his room, grabbing his coat and heading for the front door and his car. He needed to get this done with. Elena followed him and sat in the passenger seat of his car.

"Thank you." She said, halfway into their car ride.

"Why did you ask me? Why not ask the good son?"

"Honestly?" Elena looked at Damon. He turned his attention from the road and nodded his head. "Because I knew Stefan wouldn't do it."

"What made you think I would?"

"I didn't." Elena turned her attention to her lap as her fingers fiddled with each other. "I just thought you might understand where I'm coming from. If you had a choice now to go back to a normal life, would you take it?" Damon didn't answer, and Elena knew he never would. For as much as she wanted to tell him her secondary reason, she couldn't bring herself to it. She only hoped he'd be okay with it once he did find out.

Damon parked the car and allowed Elena to take the lead. She picked an area just under the shade of a large willow tree. Elena turned around to see if Damon had followed her to find him standing right behind her. Elena reached up and started to pull at the chain of the vervain necklace around her neck. Damon reached a hand up and placed it over the charm on her chest. "Before I do this, there is one thing I need first."

"What?" Elena was hoping he wasn't starting to change his mind.

Damon was not changing his mind. He was just seizing the opportunity that he knew he'd never get again; especially since he was going to be erasing her memory. The left side of Damon's mouth lifted as he reached his right hand forward and laced his fingers into her hair and moving his hand to the back of her head. Without any further warning, Damon pulled Elena's lips to his. Not only realizing that this was Damon's only chance at a kiss from the woman he was in love with, Elena knew she'd actually wanted to kiss him; had for a long time.

Damon wrapped his other arm around her waist as she opened her mouth and allowed Damon in. Time seemed to stop around them for a moment, but it was only a moment as Damon pulled himself away from Elena. Elena looked at him questioningly, but he kept a straight facade. He wouldn't allow to her last moments to be filled with regret.

Damon watched as Elena pulled the vervain necklace from around her neck and handed it to him. Moving slightly closer to her, "Elena, you just broke up with Stefan. He was too coddling and over protective. You told him you needed a break and that you should see other people. He's not a vampire and neither am I. You were never exposed to that side of our life." A single tear formed in Damon's eye, but he forced it back before it fell. "Elena, finish high school, go to college, and live a normal death free life." Damon stepped back as Elena broke out of her trance. "You dropped this." He held the vervain necklace out to her.

"That's not mine." Elena said with a soft smile on her lips.

"Sure it is." Damon's eye's shifted slightly. "You don't go anywhere without it." There was no way he was going to erase her memory of vampires and not give her protection from the very things.

"Oh, yea." Elena rolled her eyes. "I guess the light made it look different."

"Must have." Damon dropped the charm followed by the chain into her waiting hand.

"Thank you." Elena watched as Damon turned and started walking away from her. "See you around, Damon."

_No you won't._ Damon slowly walked back to his car and drove back to the boarding school.

Stefan was home. Damon could tell as soon as he opened the front door. Walking into the den and pouring himself a full glass of scotch, he heard Stefan come in behind him. "Someone's having a bad day."

"You won't believe me when I tell you." Damon replied.

"Who says I wanna know?"

"You don't." Damon turned around and looked at his brother. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to tell you. It is my last favor to her." Damon watched as Stefan moved closer at the mention of a favor to _her_. "Oh, I see I have your attention now."

"Damon what have you done?"

"What she wanted."

"Damon. What did you do?" Stefan was certainly getting angry and Damon couldn't help by smirk.

Pulling the letter from his pocket, he held it out to Stefan. "Our girlfriend is gone."

Stefan grabbed the paper from Damon's hand, and opened it.

_Dear Stefan,_

_I know right now you don't understand this, and you don't trust Damon, but you have to believe that I went to him for this. If he hasn't told you, I asked him to compel me and erase my memories of vampires and everything I've seen. I really want a chance at a normal, happy life, and no matter how much we try, I'll never have that as long as I'm with you. We'll have happy moments and a fun times, but our life will always been shaded by what you are and what might be out there looking for you. If you look deep enough, I'm sure you'll see this is the truth._

_I've made Damon promise to avoid me and I'm asking you to do the same. I want a real chance at a normal life. I know it's hard to imagine with my family genes, but it's what I really want. Can you at least give me that chance? I hope you can. _

_If we see each other, I'll be sure to say hello, and hope you'll do the same, but that has to be the extent of us. Please, I'm begging you to understand this._

_Whether I remember it or not, I will always love you and have a place for you in my heart._

_Love, Elena_

Stefan looked up from the letter in his hands. He couldn't hold back the tears that fell freely down his cheeks. "How could you?"

"How could I what? Give her what she wants? Give her a chance at happiness that we both know she can't have with us? Maybe, Stefan, the question you should be asking yourself is why she came to me and not you." Damon downed the rest of his scotch, refilled then stalked off to his bedroom.

Entering the room, he noticed a strange object sitting on his pillow. It wasn't there earlier in the day. He didn't even know where it came from. It certainly wasn't his. Realization dawning on him, there had only been one other person in his room that day. She must have left it.

Snatching the book off his pillow, he opened it up. There was note on the first page. _Damon. I want you to have this. -Elena  
_

Damon flipped to the next page, and then quickly through a few pages. She'd given him her journal. She'd given it to _him_ and not Stefan. Damon smiled as he flopped down on his bed and opened up the journal.


	2. Conversations

A/N: alright this chapter was supposed to be longer, but i'm working on only two hours of sleep from last night, and i'm really starting to get tired....so, hope you guys enjoy....thank you all for the awesome response to the first chapter....hope this one gets as warm a welcome....g'night

-Reaper

* * *

It wasn't easy, seeing as Stefan surely wanted to kill Damon for compelling Elena into forgetting everything about the brothers, but Damon was able to get Stefan to agree to avoid Elena. It had taken massive amounts of alcohol, and locking himself in his room for nearly two days straight. It was lat into the second day that Damon went to talk to his brother. "You have to eat sometime." Damon taunted from outside the door. "You can't stay in there forever."

"Hmm. Let me guess what you're thinking." Damon paused for a moment. "I'm sure it's something along the lines that I have absolutely no idea what you're going through. Let's see." Damon thought for a moment before continuing. "Maybe like you've just had your heart ripped out? Like you'd rather curl up in a ball in a room filled with vervain and just let yourself die?" Damon slouched down and leaned back against the door to Stefan's room. Setting his glass down on the floor, he continued, "Like you're not sure if you have anything left to live for? It would just be easier to die; give up. But deep down inside, you know you can't do that. It's not what she'd want. So you wake up every morning with nothing left to live for, and yet you live." Damon lifted the glass up to his mouth and took a sip. "At least I think _you're_ still alive. Haven't heard much so you may have jumped off your bed onto a nice pointy wooden stake."

The creaked open and Damon quickly shifted his weight against the door frame so he wouldn't fall. Stefan opened the door all the way and sat down, leaning against the other side of the door frame. Damon pushed his glass toward his brother. Stefan looked at it then picked it up and brought to his lips. He drank only a few sips before setting the glass back down on the floor between himself and his brother. "I guess you know a little better than I thought."

"You're angry about me being the one to compel her. I get that, Stefan. But try to imagine how I feel." Damon grabbed his glass and got up to stalk down the hall to his own bedroom.

Stefan let Damon alone for the rest of the day, but that evening, he insisted on talking with his brother. "Damon. You have to eat sometime. You can't stay in there forever." Stefan used the same words that Damon used earlier that day on purpose.

Just as Stefan was ready to lean against the door and let his body fall to the ground while it leaned against the door, the door opened. "Never planned on it." Damon walked past Stefan and headed for the fridge. Stefan glared at his brother, but followed after him anyway. "I'm not into the broody, self pity scene like some vampires." Damon called over his shoulder as he went down the stairs.

Stefan grabbed two glasses and the decanter of scotch as he made his way into the kitchen behind Damon. Setting the glasses on the island between himself and Damon, Stefan poured til the two glasses were full. "What did she tell you?"

Damon shook his head. "No, you don't get to know that. It my last untainted memory." Stefan glared at his brother. "What I will tell you is her second favor."

"Second favor? What are you talking about?" Damon had refused to explain anything to Stefan, only telling him Elena wouldn't remember them and giving him the letter.

"I promised to leave her alone. Avoid her."

"Good." Stefan replied. It was the one thing he'd always wanted of Damon. To leave _his_ girlfriend alone.

"And to make sure you do the same."

Stefan's head snapped up from his glass as Damon told him the second half of the favor. "She said that?"

"Stefan, she wants a fresh start. A life without vampires and witches and most of all death." Damon paused to take a gulp of the scotch Stefan had poured. "So here's the deal. We stay here til you do your little graduation thing and then we_ both_ hit the bricks and get out of Mystic Falls. I'll go my way, and you'll mope along in whatever direction you happen to be facing."

Damon walked out of the kitchen not giving Stefan an opportunity to protest it. There was no protest. It was the only way either of them could stay away from Elena. If she was within arms reach, the temptation was too high. As much as Damon wanted to be surrounded by that temptation and allow it to overtake him, his love for Elena was stronger. He was beginning to think that possibly he loved stronger than his brother. It would explain Katherine, and now Elena. That wasn't a fair comparison. Neither was like the other, except for the identical faces and voices. Katherine and Elena were two separate women that just happened to fall in love with the same two brothers. _If fates not a cruel thing._ Damon thought to himself as he lay down on his bed and began looking through Elena's journal.

He'd already read it cover to cover at least twice. He had favorite entries and entries he just hated; but he read them all. It gave him a little bit of her. A bit that he couldn't ever have.

The following weeks were shear torture on the Salvatore brothers. Stefan was haunted by having to see Elena at school every day. He'd thought about upping Damon's time frame and just pretending to drop out of school; Damon shot that idea down. It would be too obvious and the last thing they needed was someone paying close attention to them. Stefan learned within the first week exactly how to avoid having Elena see him during the days at school. He avoided her, but that didn't mean he couldn't look when she wasn't.

It was during that first week, that Damon visited the school. He hadn't made a habit of going to the high school, but felt it to be necessary. Without knocking on the door, he walked into the classroom, and sat down on one of the desks at the front of the classroom. There were three students in the room aside from the teacher. One was sitting in the desk Damon was sitting on while the other two sat to each side of the desk. "Attendance seems down." Damon said motioning around the room.

"This is detention."

"We need to talk. Can't you just let them go?"

"That would defeat the purpose of detention."

"Why should I be punished for their stupidity?"

Alaric looked up from his desk as he shook his head at Damon. "You're not. If you would have waited another twenty minutes, you would have arrived just when they'd be leaving. I can't help it you _want_ to punish yourself and therefore showed up twenty minutes before detention ended." Alaric returned his attention to the papers on his desk.

"Circles much? How am I supposed to know when detention's ended?"

"You could have asked your brother."

"We're not talking right now."

"Are you ever?"

"Not usually." Damon smirked. He actually enjoyed the history teacher's company. Alaric knew what he was and wasn't scared of him.

"You're not going to leave are you?" Alaric looked back up at Damon to see him shake his head. "I'll mark you all present for the full detention as long as you don't say anything about this." Without a second thought, the three kids hopped up and fled the room. "What d'you want?"

"I'm hear to ask a favor from you."

"A favor from me? You really think that's gonna happen?"

"Ric, humor me for a minute." Damon hopped off the student desk in order to slide onto Alaric's. With his face inches from the teachers, "I'm sure you've noticed Elena acting a bit different. A bit stand offish."

Alaric nodded. "I just figured she and Stefan got into a fight. I've noticed he's been avoiding her."

"Yea, this is kinda permanent." Alaric gave him a questioning look. "Elena doesn't remember us being vampires. She doesn't remember opening the tomb, or Stefan's addiction to human blood. She doesn't know Isobel is a vampire."

"How? Did she get hurt?" Alaric asked, genuine sincerity in his voice.

"She's fine. I compelled her." Damon was already sick of explaining this and Alaric was only the second person.

"You what? Why would you do that?"

"Not important." Damon waved his hands to move the subject along. "My favor."

"I vaguely remember you mentioning something, but frankly, I'm more interested in Elena and what you've done to her right now."

"I need you to keep an eye on her. Make sure nothing happens to her. Without going into all the details, cause I just don't feel like telling you them, Stefan and I will be staying away from Elena, but I need to make sure she'll be safe."

"So, of course you think of the guy that wears the ring that prevents him from being killed."

Damon smirked. "No. I go to the history teacher that can watch her during the day and her aunt's boyfriend that can watch her at home. It just so happens you're both of those." Damon stood up off the desk and started for the door.

Alaric grabbed his arm. Damon turned and glared at the teacher. "I'll make sure she's safe." He released Damon's arm.

With a fresh smirk on his face, Damon replied, "I'd say the 'T' word, but it's just not in my vocabulary." Damon walked out of the classroom.


	3. The Last Entry

A/N: damn, i didn't realize just how long this chapter was until now....i think it's a personal record...go me! ;P before you begin, i'd like to say i don't really like this chapter...damon is way OOC, but it was necessary, and his normal spunky self will be back next chapter....also, this entire chapter was written while i was tormented by hell spawn....i mean, the sweetest little four year old princessa there is ....but i just can't resist her cuteness (yes i used the 'c' word) when she asked to have a sleep over at "unca dame's"....also, as a side note, when a bossy four year old says she wants ice cream, you'd better have the flavor she wants too, otherwise it's off to the store with you....now, without further ado...here's the chapter

-Reaper

* * *

Damon wasn't counting down the days until he left Mystic Falls. He contemplated leaving before Stefan graduated, but knew that either questions would arise or Stefan would never leave. _I just need to avoid. It's only a couple weeks._ Damon spent weekends at the few dive bars in Mystic Falls. Using alcohol as his sooth all, he found great comfort in a glass of Johnny Walker Blue Label. It certainly numbed his heart and warmed his throat at the same time.

It was a Wednesday night, and Damon had been feeling cooped up. He was disgusted at himself for the way he'd been living. He was a vampire, able to take anything he wanted whenever he wanted and what was he doing? He was avoiding a high schooler like a teenager with a crush. Dropping the journal in the second drawer of his night stand, he stormed out of his bedroom and through the house. Even Stefan noted his change in demeanor. "Going out?"

Damon ignored his brother's question as he grabbed his leather coat and keys. It wasn't a long drive to the Mystic Grill. He parked his car and got out. Closing the driver door, he leaned his weight against the vehicle while putting his hands on the roof and resting his head against the cool metal. Shaking his head, he put on his trademark smirk and sauntered toward the Mystic Grill. There wasn't a night you couldn't find a wanton girl looking for a one night stand at the Grill.

Grabbing a seat at the bar, he ordered his scotch. While waiting for the bartender to deliver the drink, Damon swung around so he could survey the room. His eyes immediately locked on one particular table. Alaric was there with Elena's aunt. Without turning around, Damon grabbed his drink as the bartender set it down. He scanned the room further. _No Elena_. Shaking his head, he turned back toward the bar and gulped down his drink. Pushing it forward, he waited for the bartender to return to grab the glass for a refill. As the bartender grabbed the glass, Damon held out two fingers, indicating he wanted a double.

"Drowning your sorrows in alcohol?" Damon turned to see Elena standing next to him. She sat down on the stool and dropped two glasses on the bar. Smiling at the bartender, she asked for refills.

"What are you doing here?"

Elena motioned toward the table Damon had already spotted. "Alaric treated us all to dinner."

"Of course he did." Damon cursed internally at the chances.

"So what's so bad that you're trying to drink it away?"

How could he answer that question? "You're just jealous you can't have one." Damon deflected.

Elena leaned forward to take a sniff of his drink. Damon unconsciously leaned into her and took in her smell. He committed it to memory, not sure if he'd ever get this close again. Elena made a face as she backed away from the glass. "That actually tastes good? It smells horrible."

Damon pushed the glass toward her. "Numbs everything."

Elena stared at him for a moment. _Is he really offering me his drink?_ Elena took the glass and barely had a drop on her tongue before her face twisted in disgust. "It tastes worse than it smells."

Damon smirked. "It's an acquired flavor."

"Why would you ever want to acquire a taste for that?" Elena dropped money on the counter as the bartender returned with her refills. With a half grin and wink at Damon, she walked back to her table and dropped off the drinks for Jenna and Alaric.

Damon watched as she left the table and moved toward the billiards. Her brother was waiting for her. Turning back to the bar, Damon finished his drink and ordered another.

"Damon, what are you doing here?"

Damon turned around rolling his eyes. "Am I not allowed to have a drink?"

"I thought you and Stefan were avoiding Elena."

"I am. It's a Wednesday night, shouldn't she be at home studying or something?"

Alaric grinned. "She's doing well. She's safe."

Damon nodded his head in appreciation at the teacher.

Once again returning to his drink, he was ready to strangle the next person that interrupted him. "You look lonely." Damon slapped a devilish grin on his face as he turned and took in the blond that saddled up to the bar.

"How could I be lonely if you're around?"

After taking the blond back to the boarding house and having fun, he deposited her back at the address on her drivers license with a wiped memory of ever having been bitten by a vampire. Damon had a fun two days with his _one night stand_.

It was Friday morning when he realized he hadn't gone shopping for awhile. If he was going to be leaving Mystic Falls soon, he needed some new threads. He could only go so far with the numerous black shirts he owned. Besides, a guy could never have enough black. Driving to the higher end shoppes in downtown Mystic Falls, he walked into one of his favorites upscale stores. They knew him by name, and would deliver his purchases to the boarding house the following Monday. Free hands were always a plus when planning on spending a day shopping.

Walking into the store, he was immediately greeted by one of the employees. "Mr. Salvatore, nice to see you today."

Slapping on his best smirk, Damon replied, "Mister?"

The girl blushed. "I meant, Damon, it's nice to see you. Anything I can help you with?"

"Browsing. Anything new?" Damon asked the store girl, whom promptly took him off to show him the newest additions to their collection. He was only a few minutes into his excursion when he heard her voice. Damon glanced around the store. _You've got the be kidding me._ He grabbed a few shirts that interested him, and took them up to the counter. Pulling out his wallet, he dropped plastic on top of the garments.

"Will this be everything?"

"Yea." Damon's response was rushed as he wanted to get out of the shoppe.

"Damon?"

Damon rolled his eyes before turning around. "Elena?" Like he didn't know it was her standing there. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Senior skip day."

Damon furrowed his brow. "So you spend it in a men's clothing store?"

Elena smiled. "I'm trying to pick out a birthday present for Jeremy. If you have a few minutes, could you help?"

Damon sighed. "Just on my way out." Turning to face the girl behind the counter. "Send it to boarding house." He abruptly left the shoppe and returned to his car. "I have to get out of this town." Deciding then and there that he would leave Mystic Falls a few weeks early, he drove back to the boarding house and packed his bag. Tossing it in the trunk of his car, he sped out of town. _Why didn't I do this from the beginning? _Damon questioned himself. When had he ever done something to make his brother's life easier? Never!

Damon had given up everything he had in Mystic Falls when he erased Elena's memory. How he thought he wouldn't run into her at every bend, he couldn't explain. It wasn't like Mystic Falls was a big town. He knew she wouldn't understand. How could she? She didn't even remember that he was in love with her. All the memories he had of Elena were one sided. She would never have those memories again, and hanging around would only tear him apart even worse than taking those memories from her.

Damon hadn't been gone long, when Stefan heard a knock on the front door of the boarding house. Visitors at the boarding house were few and far between as most people in Mystic Falls either were afraid of the Salvatores, didn't know them, or weren't close enough to visit the boarding house uninvited. Stefan raced down the stairs from his bedroom and opened the front door. "Elena?"

"Hi Stefan. Is Damon home?"

"No, he came back earlier, but spend out a few minutes later."

"Oh, I just wanted to return this." Elena held a piece of plastic out to Stefan. "He forgot it at the store. They were just going to send it with the clothes he bought, but I told them I knew where he lived and could return it in case he needed it."

Stefan took the credit card from Elena's hand. "I'll make sure he gets it." Stefan didn't know what else to say. He was supposed to be avoiding Elena, and here she was standing on his front porch. "Did you want to--"

"I should really be going. I just wanted to make sure he got that back."

"Thanks." Stefan said, nodding his head.

Elena smiled a soft smile and walked away from the door.

She went home and wrapped the shirt she'd bough Jeremy for his birthday, then lay down on her bed with her journal in front of her. Without thinking, she started to write about how she kept running into the older Salvatore brother. It was strange. She'd never really remembered paying much attention to Damon before. He'd always joked around when she was over visiting Stefan. Making comments about how she should be dating the roguishly handsome Salvatore brother and not the brooding, self loathing one.

At the time, she'd brushed the comment off as Damon being a jerk, but now that she thought back, she wondered if he was serious. Before she knew it, she was spilling her guts about Damon into her journal. How he'd been a jerk and tormented Stefan during the duration of their dating. How he'd constantly showed up, uninvited at her house. How, in their recent meetings, he'd been standoffish, as if she were a piece of hot iron and he didn't want to get burned by it. She didn't understand where his new attitude had come from. He was almost flirting with her at the Grill, and then wanted absolutely nothing to do with her at the shoppe.

Elena closed her journal, pushing all thoughts of Damon aside. She was spending the weekend with Bonnie and Caroline. Except for Sunday. Sunday was Jeremy's birthday, and they'd planned to hang out for the whole day together.

Noticing that Bonnie was certainly acting differently around her, Elena was looking forward to the girls weekend. She was hoping some time between just the three of them would patch any wounds that weren't healed.

Even though the two days were uneventful, Elena was happy to have her two best friends over. They'd spent Friday night watching chick flicks while chowing down on every kind of junk food in the house. After shopping on Saturday, Caroline suggest they make dinner together and then waste the night away playing board games. Bonnie and Elena jumped on board and another night passed by uneventful.

Waking up late Sunday morning, Elena quickly took a shower. By the time she got out, Caroline and Bonnie were already packing up their bags. They knew Elena had plans to spend the day with Jeremy for his birthday. "Thanks for understanding." Elena said as her friends left the house and made their way to their cars. "Jer!" Elena called as she ascended the steps. "Time to wake up!" Barging into his bedroom, Elena found his bed empty. It hadn't even been slept in. "Jeremy?" She asked the empty room. Grabbing her phone, she began to scroll through her contacts to find Jeremy's.

Looking at a strange number that she never remembered programming into her phone, she selected the unknown number. _Who's number is this?_ She texted, hoping to get a response.

It took a few moments, but her phone buzzed at the message alert. _Elena, leave me alone._

Elena jumped slightly. Apparently the person knew who she was, but she had no clue who he or she was. _You know who I am? Who is this? _Her fingers moved quickly over the keys.

No response.

_Then I guess I'll just delete you from my contacts._ Reverse psychology. She hoped it would work.

It did. _ Don't do that._

_Then tell me who you are. _Her curiosity was surely piqued now.

_A friend._ The response cam back quicker than she expected.

Rolling her eyes, her finger went to work again. _Can you be more vague? _Again, no response. _You can't even tell me your name?_

_No._

"Why not?" Elena asked aloud not realizing it. _Why?_

Just when she thought she wasn't going to get a response, her phone buzzed again. _You won't like the answer._

Smiling, this was becoming fun. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know who it was now, or if she just wanted to continue the charade. _Does it matter?_

_It does to me._

Elena made a face at the response. Suddenly, the game wasn't as much fun. _Look, I don't have a name with this number. Who is this?_

Elena waited. Nothing. No response. Giving up on the anonymous texter, she returned to looking for Jeremy's number to call and find out where he was when a notification came up that she had a new text message.

_Damon Salvatore._

Elena stared at her phone shocked. "Why would I--" She cut herself off mid-sentence and tossed her phone her dresser. "What was I thinking? I barely know him." Unsure of why he was entered into her phone as he was, she left her phone on her dresser as she made her way to the house phone. Grabbing it and dialing in Jeremy's number off the list on the fridge, she finally got a hold of her brother.

The following day after school, Elena drove to the boarding house. Knocking on the door and waiting for the response, she contemplated if she should even be there. He hadn't wanted to tell her who he was. _But he did._ Elena was surprised that Stefan answered the door again.

"Elena?"

Cutting to the chase, Elena skipped the small talk. "Is Damon here?"

Stefan was surprised that this was the second time Elena stood on his doorstep in less than a week and was asking for his brother. _I thought we were supposed to be leaving her alone. Two can play this game._ "No."

"Can I wait for him?"

"No."

Elena couldn't believe her ears. "Why not?" She demanded a reason.

"He's not coming back. Apparently, he left Mystic Falls on Friday."

Had she caused him to leave? "Where did he go?"

"He's probably half way across the world by now."

"Can't be." Elena whispered lowering her head. "Why did he leave?" Elena brought her eyes back up to Stefan's.

_Because he can't stand being around you and not able to have you. I know that feeling. _"I won't pretend to know how my brother's mind works."

Elena shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave the boarding house. Apparently she wasn't going to get the answers she'd gone there for.

"If you need to talk about anything--" Stefan left the statement open ended on purpose.

Elena turned around to look at Stefan. He was always good for talking to. "That would be great." Elena moved back toward the open door and Stefan adjusted so she could walk into the house. Looking out the door before closing it, Stefan motioned for Elena to take a seat in the den.

"Thirsty?" Stefan asked, and Elena nodded. "Take a seat. I'll grab something from the fridge."

Knowing what she liked, he grabbed her a drink and poured it into a glass. Walking back into the den, he handed her the glass and sat down on the couch next to her. Elena took a sip of the drink before setting on the coffee table and leaning back against the couch. She'd always had a certain comfort level with Stefan. He was the safe brother. The highly trustworthy one. She leaned into his side while she sighed.

They sat in the den, just sitting for close to half an hour. Elena opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a knock on the front door. "Hold onto that thought." Stefan said getting up from the couch and moving to the front door. Opening it, he did a double take.

"I thought I made it clear she doesn't want this." Damon walked through over the threshold of the door into the house.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" After seeing his clothes packed and gone, Stefan assumed his brother had decided to skip town before graduation.

"Keeping my promise." Damon walked into the den where he knew Elena was still sitting, waiting for Stefan to return. "Elena, go home." Elena jumped at the sound of Damon's booming voice. She looked as if she was going to start talking to him. It was hard enough for him to tell her to go away once, he wasn't sure he could do it again. With a tear threatening to drop from his eye, Damon quickly checked his emotions. "No. Go home, Elena."

Elena looked at him, unsure how to take his sudden appearance and the fact that he was kicking her out of the house, but she left nonetheless.

"Damon, what are you doing?"

"Stefan, what part of she doesn't want to be involved in our darkness aren't you getting? She wants a chance at a normal life. Where she's not being threatened by vampires or fearing the alley she's walking down. She wants to feel safe. She wants to be happy, and she can't have either one of those with you."

"What? And she can with you?"

"I left."

"You came back!" Stefan yelled as he watched his brother going up the stairs.

"Because I knew I couldn't trust you!" Damon whipped around half way up the stairs causing Stefan to stumble as he was chasing after his brother. "You know for supposedly loving her, you certainly don't respect her." Damon cut his words as deep as he could before going to his bedroom.

Stefan grabbed his arm halfway down the hallway."And you do?"

Damon looked at Stefan's hand on his arm, which Stefan quickly removed. Damon shoved Stefan, trying to get him to back off. Stefan pushed back. Shaking his head, Damon threw Stefan so hard he landed on the other end of the hall. Pouncing on him, Damon held Stefan to the ground. "I left because I can't be around her and not want her. At least when you were dating, she was here. She was a friend. We talked. I can't have that now and neither can you!"

Releasing his brother, Damon stormed down the hall and slammed his door shut like an angry teenager rebelling against mom and dad.

Grabbing the journal from the second drawer on his night stand, he fell onto his bed. He couldn't believe he'd actually forgotten the journal, but it was a good thing that he did. Otherwise, Stefan would have pulled Elena back into the darkness.

Damon hated playing the role of the grown up. He wanted to be the carefree kid that came and did as he pleased. He didn't know if it was a residual thing left over from the human blood, but he couldn't believe how Stefan was acting. He'd expected brooding and self pity. Which Stefan had shown after realizing what had happened, but now it seemed as though he was putting on extra charm and less brood. Stefan was trying to win Elena back again. _Not that I can blame him. If I could choose anyone to spend eternity with, it would be Elena._

He was halfway through reading Elena's journal for the umpteenth time when his phone chattered. Pulling it from the jacket that he'd haphazardly tossed at the end of the bed, he opened it up and looked at the message.

_You there?_

It was Elena. He contemplated not answering it. He shouldn't, but he just couldn't resist. _Yea._ He was doing exactly what he'd just yelled at Stefan for doing.

_Why can't we talk?_

_I made a promise._

_To who? Stefan?_

Damon smiled. Of course she wouldn't remember that she was the one he'd made the promise to. _No._

_Can we be friends?_

Damon couldn't stop the tear that fell down his face. It came on too quickly. _No._

_Why?_

_Promise_

_Who did you make this binding promise to?_ Elena was trying to joke around. She was trying to be friends.

_Can't._

_Can we please talk? Meet me at the Grill in half an hour?_

Elena waited for a response, but never got one. Deciding to go to the Grill even though he didn't reply, she quickly changed her clothes, and scribbled a note for Jenna.

Walking in the front door, she saw the familiar mop of black hair already sitting at the bar. He was hard to miss in his black leather jacket. It was a trademark for him. Sliding into the seat next to him, she started the conversation. "Thought you couldn't meet me."

"Never said that." Elena noticed that he refused to look at her. "What's the life or death situation?"

"You."

Damon finally turned and looked at her. "Me? What about me?"

"The past couple of months are a bit of a blur. I don't remember certain details, but I know somehow we became friends. I can feel that." Reaching her hand out, she grabbed his forearm. "Just because Stefan and I broke up, doesn't mean we can't be friends."

There was no way to argue that. "We just can't." But he did anyway.

"Fine. I'll accept that if you can answer one question for me."

"What?" It came out harsher than he had planned.

"Why was your number programmed into my phone as my In Case of Emergency contact?"

"I'm your what?" Damon couldn't believe his ears. _It's the sign. A bright, neon, flashing sign!_

Stefan walked into his brother's room shortly after Damon raced out the front door to see a familiar looking book on Damon's bed. Picking up the book, Stefan looked at the page the book was opened to. It was the last entry and about halfway through the journal.

_Damon,_

_Thank you. I wasn't sure Stefan would or could do what you've done for me. I can only hope now that I choose to live a nice, normal, happy life._

_This is the only thing I own where I've written about vampires. I trust that you'll either keep it safe or destroy it._

_It breaks my heart to think we'll never talk again, and I know it must have broken yours to do what you did for me. I can't say thank you enough. You have to know how much it means to me that you did it._

_I'm sure you've already started coming up with ways to fairly break your second promise to me, and I might be giving just the idea you need._

_Damon, I can't know what I'll be like after you compel me, but I can only ask so much of you. If for some reason, I persist long enough with either you or Stefan, take it for what it is. A sign. A heart can only stay separated from it's other half for so long before it starts searching and clawing its way through a crowd of inferior hearts. Hearts that aren't its match._

_I know you love me, but I can't risk this. I don't want to be Katherine. You and Stefan are already miserable because of her. I can't cause any more for either of you._

_If we ever meet again, remind me of the man you can be. The one that I've grown to love._

_Love, Elena_

Stefan snapped the book shut and tossed it on Damon's bed.


	4. Pesky Little Ring

A/N: before getting to the chapter...i need to dedicate this chapter to my lovely girlfriend, Nikki....and you should all be grateful that she is such an understanding woman....she had a romantic dinner planned for tonight, knowing that i had a short day at work....making all sorts of arrangements to make it happen, she walked into my house, ready to cook dinner when she found me sitting on the couch with my laptop typing away at this chapter....instead of freaking out that i wanted to finish the chapter, she brought in a glass of Walker Blue with my fags and even took the dogs out into the kitchen with her while she cooked her little heart away....she certainly is the greatest, so yes i do have to dedicate this chapter to her...and lind, stop over tomorrow, and we'll watch the season finale on the dvr together....sorry for the change of plans....so now i'm off to eat, and you guys are here to read....enjoy!

-Fen

* * *

Damon still couldn't come to understand why Elena would have programmed his number into her phone as the emergency contact. _Unless it was her way of creating a sign. Does that mean she wanted to be with me all along?_

Elena could tell that Damon was trying to process the information she'd just given him, but had no idea the extent of his thoughts. Mainly because the memories he still had were not memories she had any more. "So you don't have answer, do you?"

"Not that would appease." Damon's mind was still trying to wrap itself around what was going on, but he'd made at least one decision. They could at the very least be friends. Well, as long as he was in town, they could. He knew himself well enough that he wouldn't be able to stay around if he could only have part of Elena and not all of her. In order to have all of her, he'd have to reintroduce to her vampires, and he'd promised her that he wouldn't do that.

Standing up, he made an excuse of having to use the bathroom. He needed to take a few minutes to think this through and he couldn't do that with her staring at him with her perfect doe eyes.

Walking down the side corridor to the bathrooms, he did a double take as he watched a very familiar face walk out of the girls restroom. Moving faster than any average person could see, he had her pinned against the wall with his hand around her throat. She might be older than him, but that didn't mean she was stronger than him. "Anna, long time no see. You don't call. You don't write. Not even a visit. A guy starts to wonder."

Anna was struggling against him, but knew her efforts were futile. Damon was the stronger vampire between them. Hell, she doubted that her mother was stronger and assumed Damon had allowed her to think he was just to work some kind of angle. "What do you want, Damon?" She asked through the sound of her throat being crushed.

Damon let up slightly on her throat. He needed information and he wouldn't get what he wanted if she couldn't talk. "I know you've been visiting the Gilbert boy." Anna looked slightly shocked. She thought she'd kept a low profile with her visits to Jeremy. "So I'm sure you can explain why Johnathan Gilbert hasn't made a move yet on the vampires threatening Mystic Falls."

"Jeremy--"

"The kid? What does he have to do with this?"

"He knows." Anna admitted. "He knows about us. I've told him everything that I know."

"Doesn't explain anything." Damon squeezed slightly on her throat making his point that he was in no mood to skirt around.

"Johnathan told him about the invention and that it's a weapon. He also told him that Isobel added you and your brother to the list of vampires to kill."

"None of this is explaining what I asked."

"Jeremy assumed I was one of the vampires on Katherine's list, so while Johnathan was sleeping, Jeremy snuck into his room. He was looking for the invention, but when he couldn't find it, he took his ring instead."

"Johnathan won't attack if he isn't protected against a return attack."

"Exactly what Jeremy thought, and apparently he was right since Johnathan hasn't attacked."

Damon released Anna from his grip around her throat, but stayed close enough that she wouldn't be able to escape. "The witch supposedly deactivated the invention, but I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."

"Do you know how it works?"

"No." Damon admitted. "But I plan on finding out."

"How?"

"I haven't worked that out yet. I'll be in touch." Damon started to walk away but was stopped by Anna's hand on his arm. Turning, he looked down at her hand and then up to her eyes.

Anna removed her hand. "While we're discussing the Gilberts, Elena's been acting a little strange."

"Like she doesn't know about vampires?"

"Yea. Any idea why?"

Damon hesitated. Should he tell Anna? So far she had proven to be working both sides. Her mother had been trying to unite the vampires in Mystic Falls, and yet Anna was also seeing Jeremy. Apparently, she'd formed a strong attachment to the boy and his mortal life. Damon quickly decided that momentarily she could be trusted. "She had me compel her into forgetting about vampires. Knowing has only brought misery into her life."

Anna smiled, looking past Damon to the bar where Elena was still sitting. "And you still can't stay away."

"I'm trying but she's making it impossible." Damon turned away from Anna, and started back toward the bar.

As he approached, he saw Elena chatting it up with a local boy. Cutting in between them, he looked at the intruder, "Sorry. Her evening is fully booked."

The boy shot Damon an 'are you kidding me' look then looked at Elena, waiting for her to disagree. She didn't. He quickly said a goodbye and walked away.

"Tyler's a friend."

"No, he's trying to get in your pants like every other red blooded teenage boy in this town."

"Does that include you?" Elena asked provocatively.

Smirking, Damon replied, "Do I look like a boy to you?" Even though he didn't get the time to think while away from Elena like he had planned, Damon made up his mind. If she wanted to try and be friends, he would do that. For her. Being friends didn't mean he couldn't flirt endlessly with her.

Elena smiled. "So my evening is fully booked, _with you_?"

"Unless you're meeting other friends here."

The smile stayed on Elena's face as she realized what he meant. Just because she'd broken up with his brother didn't mean they couldn't be friends. Why she hadn't tried to be friends with Damon while she and Stefan were still dating, she didn't understand. He was fun to be around. He knew how to have fun. Something Stefan certainly lacked with all his doom and gloom.

After spending much of the evening at the Mystic Grill with Elena, Damon returned to the boarding house to find Stefan skulking in the den with a glass in his hand. Ignoring the depressing mood of his brother, Damon poured himself a glass of scotch and flopped into one of the armchairs letting his legs hang over the arm. Refusing the break the silence because he didn't want to know what was bothering his brother, Damon watched the blazing fire while sipping his drink.

Stefan opened his mouth to speak a few times, but nothing came out. He didn't know how to word what he wanted to ask. It wasn't a case of not wanting to hurt Damon, in fact just the opposite. Damon had already broken Stefan's heart. Stefan had no care about Damon or his emotions. "Did you compel Elena to love?" The words finally came out of Stefan's mouth.

Rolling his eyes, and smirking as he looked at his brother, Damon asked, "What are you talking about?" Damon glanced over at Stefan to see his response.

Stefan sighed. "I did some interesting reading while you were gone." Stefan held up Elena's journal for Damon to see.

Damon quickly hid the shock that appeared on his face with a glare. "I guess privacy is a thing of the past."

"Answer the question Damon."

"Which question was that again?"

Stefan was getting annoyed. Gritting his teeth, Stefan tried his best to remain calm. "Did you compel Elena into loving you?"

He'd known that Stefan didn't trust him, but to accuse him of forcing Elena to fall in love with him? Damon smirked. _It does sounds like something I'd do._ Using his best nonchalant face, Damon decided to do what he does best. "Maybe I didn't even compel her at all and this is all some elaborate scheme for Elena and I to be together and not hurt your precious little feelings. Is that what you're really asking?"

Stefan glared at his brother. He couldn't deny that the thought has crossed his mind, but to hear it come from Damon's mouth, made it more of a real possibility. Glaring at Damon, Stefan responded. "If that was the goal, you've failed miserably, but Elena wouldn't do that."

"The Elena you know wouldn't, but maybe the one I do _would_."

"You're avoiding the question." Stefan was hoping that his assumptions and Damon's admittance were false, and this wasn't some scheme the two of them had come up with.

Clenching his teeth, Damon jumped up from the chair and got right in Stefan's face. "I did exactly what Elena asked me to do. I compelled her to forget about vampires and to think she broke up with you. If you can't accept that your girlfriend decided to have a normal life without your depressing miserable ass, that's your problem."

Stefan wanted to strangle Damon, but knew two things. He couldn't. Damon was the stronger of them, and secondly, it wouldn't do much since he didn't need to breath. "Then what did she mean by--"

"I don't know, Stefan. She gave herself an out, I guess; in case her heart chose not to forget. Ironically, her heart easily forgot you." Damon was gone from Stefan's face just as quickly as he'd arrived. He watched Stefan storm out of the den while he refilled his drink. With a smirk on his face and his mind moving faster than ever, he flopped back down in the chair with his legs hanging over the side again.

While the vampire brothers argued with each other over the girl they were both in love with, Johnathan Gilbert was trying to get in touch with the girl he used to love that was now a vampire.

"What do you want?"

"We have a little hitch in our plans." Johnathan started to explain.

"And what's the problem now?"

"My ring's missing. I woke up and it's gone. I can't be sure I'll get them all at once with the invention, and if I don't, without the ring, I might not be able to finish this."

"Then it seems like _you_ have a problem. Not me. You have forty-eight hours to figure out what happened to the ring and get it back."

"Or what?" Johnathan wasn't sure of the threat Isobel was leaving.

"After that, I can't be held accountable for what happens in Mystic Falls when Katherine find out the vampires are still on the loose. So I would suggest you find your ring, or proceed without it."

Johnathan Gilbert sat in the driver seat of his car listening to dead air for a few moments. Snapping his phone shut, he contemplated how his ring could have been stolen and who could have stolen it. There were only three vampires that could enter the Gilbert house without needing an invitation from one of the current residents. _It has to be one of them. Or?_ His mind wandered for a moment. _Maybe it wasn't a vampire. Maybe it was Jeremy or Elena._


	5. Foursome

A/N: had planned on getting this out last night, but the party lasted a bit later than expected...and i was too, uh, we'll say _tired_ to write....and today was the rat race from hell....but i decided i wasn't going to disappoint and spent the last three hours getting this chapter done...i hope you guys enjoy....let me know by leaving a review when you're done!

-Fen

* * *

Damon was sitting at the bar in the Mystic Grill sipping on his drink when he felt the air around him change. He recognized the atmosphere immediately. "You're a real buzz kill." Damon turned to see his brother sitting on the stool next to him. With scrutinizing eye, Damon looked at his brother and then around the room. "Wait, are you actually trying to have, dare I say, fun?"

Stefan shot Damon a glare. "Am I not allowed to go out and sit at a bar with my brother?"

"Just don't stay out past your curfew." Damon pushed a few bills forward and motioned for the bartender to take the cost of Stefan's drink out of his money.

"You're buying me a drink?" Stefan asked in surprise.

Damon didn't respond until the bartender arrived. "Whatever my brother wants." Damon looked at Stefan then back at the bartender. "But he's only eighteen, so keep it light."

Stefan shook his head. _Of course Damon would have an angle._ Stefan ordered a soda.

As if knowing what his brother was thinking, Damon smirked. "You're the one pretending you're a teenager in high school. If I let you drink, the next kid'll want the same. I don't want to be held accountable for the downfall of youth in America."

Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother. "No, you'd rather just have them for dinner."

"Not all of them." Damon quickly replied. Spinning in his stool, Damon smiled at the approaching body.

"Damon, favor?"

"Depends." Damon noted the scowl that came over Stefan's face at the sound of Elena's voice. He wasn't sure if it was the sound of her voice or the fact that she was talking to Damon instead of himself.

"We're one short since Tyler decided to bolt." Elena motioned to the pool table that Matt and Caroline were standing at.

Damon looked at Stefan then back to Elena. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't bail you out?" Damon spun the stool and grabbed his drink. Spinning back around, he stood up and began to follow Elena. He leaned on Stefan's shoulder before passing, "Hmm, friend. I like the ring of that." Damon moved quickly to catch up to Elena, which was lucky since Stefan swung his arm but only hit air. If he would have connected with his brother, Damon would not have been playing pool.

Stefan stayed at the Grill for a little longer. He listened intently to the conversations going on between the four people playing pool. He refused to consider them all friends. He refused to consider Damon and Elena friends. Damon had taken everything from him, and now was stealing it away behind his back. Stefan just wanted graduation to come, so they would both leave Mystic Falls. He couldn't believe how Damon was acting. He'd been so hell bent on keeping Stefan away from Elena because that was what she wanted. She wanted to forget about the vampires and the death that seemed to surround the two brothers. Now here she was, making BFFs with his brother, and Damon was letting it happen. What had happened that made Damon change his mind? He'd been so strict about leaving Elena alone. He'd even left Mystic Falls to stay away from Elena. Stefan refused to think that Damon loved her more than he did. Or that Elena could possibly even love his brother.

Stefan finally got up from the bar and walked out of the Grill when he heard the beginnings of Damon and Elena's next conversation.

"Stefan looks lonely. You think I should invite him to join?" Elena whispered to Damon while looking over at the bar.

"The choice is yours." Damon smiled at he took the pool cue from Elena's hands to take his turn. He was going easy on Matt and Caroline. He could have easily ran the table, but he was actually enjoying their company. More so enjoying Elena's company, he didn't want to jeopardize an early evening and being forced to go back to the boarding house to a brooding Stefan.

Elena was about to go to the bar to invite Stefan to join them, but she saw him retreating from the Grill. Turning back to the table, she looked at Damon. "I guess we'll keep it to a foursome." Damon winked as he sank another ball.

After a few games, Matt and Caroline decided to call it a night. Caroline was being forced into a mother-daughter day with her mom the following day and Matt had to work. Once they'd taken their coats and headed for the door, Damon looked at Elena. "And do you have an early curfew tonight?"

Elena smiled. "Actually," she paused for dramatic effect, "Aunt Jenna is out on a date with Mr. Saltzman, and I think Jeremy is out with Anna."

"Then the night's still early." Damon racked the balls, and handed Elena the cue to break.

Damon's mind continually wandered while he spent the night with Elena. Everything inside was yelling at him. He wasn't supposed to be there. He had promised to avoid her. Promised to keep her safe from vampires, but here he was playing pool and pretending like he was just the older brother of her ex-boyfriend and now her friend. He wasn't supposed to be there.

Ignoring his inner quarrel, he ordered another round of drinks for them. His desire to have Elena as a friend, if nothing else, trumped his desire to keep his promise. _Even if I walk away now, she'll just text me before I get home._ Damon rolled his eyes at the truth behind the thought.

"What?" Elena asked.

"What, what?" Damon returned.

Elena just looked at him questioningly. Raising her eyebrow, "I don't remember seeing you in here this much."

"How much is 'this much?'" Damon had already hit two balls in and was lining up his third.

"You've been here every time I've been here in the last week or so. Are you trying to drink away your problems?"

Damon made his third ball. "And what problems would those be?" He looked at Elena briefly, before circling the table to look for his fourth shot.

"I'm supposed to be able to understand how your mind works?" Elena held her shocked expression until Damon looked at her. He laughed. "I dated your brother and you were scarcely around except to cause turmoil. I break up with your brother and avoid me like the plague--"

"No, I know people who've lived thro--" Damon caught his words. He couldn't admit to knowing anyone that lived through the Black Plague and _not_ have Elena asking questions.

Luckily, Elena didn't catch what Damon had started to say because there was a loud uproar at the bar. Elena looked at the cause of the ruckus. A few of the guys at the bar starting throwing fists and the bartender was having a hell of a time trying to get them under control. Damon watched as one of the fighters swung his fist a little faster than he should have been able. He saw Elena was intently watching the fight at the bar. Running to grab Elena's jacket off the hook a good thirty feet away, he returned less than a second later and wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. "That's our cue to leave." Damon dropped a few bills next to their drink glasses and hustled Elena out of the bar.

Once outside in the cool night air, Elena slipped her arms into her jacket and pulled it close against her body for added warmth. "Keith looked like he was getting everything under control. We could have stayed."

Slightly taken by the fact that she knew the bartender by name, he shrugged it off as Mystic Falls being a small town and Elena had lived there her entire life. Not wanting to go down 'those were vampires fighting' road, Damon decided to change the subject. "What time should your aunt be getting home with the history teacher?"

"They have names, you know."

Damon smirked as they started in the direction of Elena's home. "Too much work to remember names when you move around as much as I do."

"How far can you really have gone? You're only what, twenty-five?"

Damon smirked. _Give or take a century and a half._ "Trust me." He winked at her as they continued down the dark road.

"Did Stefan travel with you?"

"No usually."

"So what, you just let him travel on his own?"

Damon didn't want to have this conversation. Of course he let Stefan travel by himself. He was wearing big boy underpants now. He could take care of himself. But he couldn't tell Elena any of that. "We're talking about my brother, why? He's probably sitting in his room with all the lights out, pondering his own existence now that the woman of his dreams dumped him to hang out with his older, more attractive, well versed, carnally irresistible, and highly experienced brother." Damon waggled his eyebrows from emphasis, and Elena shoved his shoulder as they walked.

Rolling her eyes, "You forgot modest."

Damon shook his head. "Often playfully amusing, but never modest." Elena's smile fell into a full laugh. Damon smiled a true smile back at her. It unnerved her, his smile. It was very seldom that Damon let emotion reach his face, and all the times he'd let it happen with Elena were forgotten memories. "I love that sound."

"What sound?"

"You. Laughing. I haven't heard it for so long." Immediately putting his attention back to the road ahead of them, Damon let the subject drop. He'd already revealed too much. They were_ just friends._ He had to remind himself of that.

They continued in silence for awhile. Damon was scolding himself while Elena contemplated what he'd said. She'd never really remembered laughing around Damon. Hell, until she split up with Stefan, she didn't even really hang around Damon. She didn't even understand why she was forcing herself on him at strongly as she was. They were never close. She was still puzzled over the fact that somehow she'd put him on her contacts list, and then listed him as the I-C-E number. Her mind continually told her there was something wrong with hanging out with Damon. He was her ex-boyfriend's older brother. He was older, not old, but older. He had definitely established himself as a bad boy in Mystic Falls. He'd been nothing but a pain while she dated Stefan. Apparently, he had dated Caroline for a short while. _If you can even call that dating. From what she told me, he was more of a live in bed mate._ But even with all these perfectly good and rational reasons for staying away from the older Salvatore, Elena couldn't help but want to spend time with him. He was charming, and when there was no one else around, he could even be sweet. _In a James Dean _Rebel Without a Cause_ kinda way. _

"Your stop." Damon cut into her thoughts as he motioned to her front porch. Following her up the steps, he waited for Elena to open the door. Her hand was on the knob when she suddenly turned around. Almost losing her balance as she went up on her tip toes, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I had a good time tonight. Thanks for staying."

Damon stood there, stunned. He hadn't expected Elena's lips on his flesh, and she'd certainly sent his mind into a tailspin. Damon's attention snapped to the front door as it opened. "Damon?"

Forcing his mind to work so he could make coherent speech, he quickly recognized the voice and face that went with it. "Ric, just dropping Elena off. I didn't want her...getting lost on her way home."

Alaric stepped out of the house but held the door open for Elena. With a last smile in Damon's direction, Elena disappeared into the house. "I thought you were staying away." Alaric closed the front door so he and Damon could speak without prying ears.

Damon shook his head. "I'm trying, but she's making it impossible." Damon pointed to the house to emphasize.

Alaric smirked at Damon. "I thought you were good with the 'N' word."

"Sure, with Stefan. No this, no that. It's like second nature."

Alaric laughed. "And with Elena?" Damon glared at him, refusing to answer. "That's what I thought."

Damon turned to walk down the steps and head home, but quickly spun around and grabbed Alaric's arm. "Come graduation, Stefan and I are outta town."

"In opposite directions I hope."

"Definitely."

"And with a pretty young girl on your arm."

"If she'll have me." Damon looked at Alaric. He hadn't meant to let that out, but there was something about the history teacher. He had a strange comfort with him. They were kindred spirits. Both spent the better halves of their adult lives searching for the women that left them.

Alaric looked at Damon very seriously. "You asked me to do you a favor. I told you I'd keep her safe. I don't plan on going back on that." Damon nodded and turned around. "Don't make me regret letting you in." Damon looked over his shoulder at the teacher. "You heard me."

Damon nodded and finished going down the steps.

He was only a few feet away from the porch when he felt a hand on his arm. With a grin on his face, he turned. "What now, Ric?" His eyes didn't meet up with the blue eyes of the history teacher he was beginning to think of as his second friend. Instead, he met the sharp and angry eyes of John Gilbert.

"Surprise." John said, keeping his tone normal but with a slight edge. "We both know how this conversation is going to go, so let's cut to the chase. You know what I have, and that I know how to use it. You keep yourself away from my--"

John was interrupted when he felt Damon finger on his hand. Slowly, Damon brought John's hand up into view. "You really think idle threats directed at me in your current state is a healthy decision?"

John glared at Damon. How had he known that the ring was gone? Did he know where the ring was? Did he have the ring?

Without a second thought, Damon's hand was around John's neck, ready to snap it in half. A blast of light from the second floor of the Gilbert house caught his attention. Elena was in her bedroom and moving toward the window. "You're catching a break. Don't expect it to happen again." Without another word, Damon was gone and John was standing alone on the front lawn.

Elena looked down at the front yard to see her uncle. How she wished he would just leave Mystic Falls already. It had to be obvious that no one wanted him there.

Going through her regular nightly routine of changing into pajamas, washing up, brushing teeth, and combing her hair, Elena grabbed her phone from the pocket of her jacket and laid down on her bed. Turning the light off, she set the phone her nightstand, only to pick it back up less than a minute later. _What are you doing tomorrow?_ She hit the send button for the text.

When no response came back, she set the phone back on the nightstand and rolled over, trying to go to sleep. At first, her mind didn't want to let her fall asleep, but the calm quiet of her room soon over took her and her mind let her succumb to a nice, dream filled sleep.

Similarly at the boarding house, Damon, upon returning, ignored his skulking brother and went upstairs to take a quick shower before going to bed. Walking into his bedroom with a chocolate brown towel wrapped around his waist and using a similarly colored towel to dry his hair, Damon grabbed a pair of black cotton lounge pants. Pulling them up his legs, he discarded the wet towel in the laundry basket. Getting his hair as close to dry as a towel would allow, he tossed that towel into the basket as well before running a dab of conditioner through her hair with his fingers.

Picking up his favorite reading material, he dropped his weight onto the bed and flipped through Elena's journal. Quickly finding the entry in which she described her first meeting with Damon, Damon reached to his nightstand to grab his phone that had just chirped at him. Running his fingers over the security code he'd set on it – so Stefan couldn't snoop – he saw there was a text message that he'd missed and his battery was reaching a dangerously low level. _Must have been while I was in the shower._ Damon touched to read the message. Smirking, he typed his reply, sent it, then turned the phone off and plugged it into the charger. Returning to the journal, he finished reading the entry, put the journal back in its place in the second drawer of his nightstand and climbed under the covers.

Elena didn't hear her phone ring with the new text message. She didn't see the blinking light reminding her that there was a message, but when she woke up in the morning, a broad smile would stretch across her face when she did read the message.

_I don't know. What are we doing?_


	6. East of Eden

A/N: not as long as the last chapter....but the next one is jammed back with characters (i think i have damn near everyone in the next chapter), drama and a dash of action....but lets not get ahead of ourselves...let me know what you think of this chapter first.... ;P

-Fen

* * *

Elena stretched as she woke up the next morning. Before even brushing her teeth, she grabbed her phone to see if there was a message waiting for her. There was. She read it, but refused to answer. Instead, she set her phone down walked to the bathroom she shared with her brother. Taking a long hot shower, she got out and wrapped a towel around her body before wrapping her hair in a separate one. Walking back into her bedroom, she looked at her phone. Shaking her head, she moved to her dresser. Bra. Panties. Violet thin strapped tank. Old worn and ripped jeans. She looked back at her phone while she dressed. Walking back to the bathroom, she quickly combed and styled her hair. Glancing back into her room at the night stand that her phone was still sitting on, she shook her head again and applied a light layer of makeup. Going back into her room, she grabbed her phone and shoved it the back pocket of her jeans before leaving her room and heading downstairs.

Pouring a quick bowl of cereal, she barely touched it as she continued to stare at her phone.

Jeremy walked into the kitchen and saw his sister. Her breakfast looked like it had barely been touched and she was staring at her phone as if trying to make it levitate off the table. "You have to press the buttons." Jeremy said, sitting down across from his sister with his own bowl of cereal.

"I know that."

"Then why do you keep staring at it waiting for it to do something?"

"I'm not!" Elena grabbed the phone off the table and quickly stamped out a reply text with her thumbs. Hitting sending, she put it back on the table. _I haven't been to the movies in forever._

It didn't take long for the phone to buzz to life with a reply. _What are all the hip kids going to see? _Elena could just imagine the smirk on Damon's face.

_Do you care?_ Elena sent back.

_No. _Elena chuckled, which earned her a look from Jeremy. Before she could respond, another text came in. _What are _we_ going to see?_

_You can pick when we get there._

_Time?_

_8:30?_

_Curfew?_

Again Elena could just imagine the smirk on his face. She was sure there was one on her own face as well. _Do you care?_

_No._

Elena laughed again. This time Jeremy glared at her. He hadn't heard her happy in a long time and that laugh was definitely a happy laugh.

Elena spent the rest of the day hanging out at home and just relaxing. She was looking forward to going to the movies. She was looking forward to going with Damon.

Damon spent most of his day out of the boarding house. He didn't want to deal with Stefan let alone see him. So instead, he hit the town. There wasn't much to do in Mystic Falls, but that didn't stop him from having a good time. His mischievous mind was devising schemes on its own. There was only a small portion of the town that had ingested or was carrying vervain. The rest of the population was open to Damon. Making sure not to draw attention to himself he was careful whom he compelled, but that didn't mean he couldn't have fun.

By the end of the day, he'd caused six people to be arrested, two couples to break up, three more couples to get together, and had an old granny convinced she was a swinger and needed to get back out into the playing field. All in all, it was a fun eventless day for Damon. It was pushing eight o'clock and he still wanted to change before meeting Elena for their movie.

Walking up to the town's only movie theatre at exactly 8:30, he quickly spotted Elena. "So what're we seeing?" He asked as he approached her.

"I told you it was your choice."

Damon quickly looked over the list of movies being aired. _Romantic comedies and dramas. No. Too many teenagers hopped up on hormones. Elena doesn't like action. Not in the mood to think, so the suspense is out._ "That one." Damon pointed to an old movie poster. Recently the theatre started an _Embrace the Past_ campaign and started playing old movies. Damon picked the movie for two reasons. He'd enjoyed it the first time he saw it on it's opening weekend and he also knew the theatre probably wouldn't be over populated.

Elena walked up to the counter. "Two for _East of Eden_." Damon pulled his wallet, but Elena pushed his hand away. "My treat. As a friend." _Don't want him thinking I'm thinking this is a date._

Damon nodded and let her pay for the tickets. As they walked through the gates and toward the snack counter, Damon spoke without thinking, "I remember seeing this when it opened. The crowds were huge. It was a big--" He suddenly became aware of what he was saying.

"Huh?"

Quickly covering his tracks, "Two weeks ago, when they started showing it. A bunch of old ladies thinking back to their glory days."

"Oh." Elena walked up to the snack counter and placed her order. Damon was quicker this time and pushed money forward before Elena could argue. She looked at him questioningly. "How does that go again? Oh yea, my treat. As a friend." _Can't have her thinking that I think this is a date._

Once inside, Damon held Elena's drink while she picked their seats. Once she was seated, he handed her the drink before crashing into the chair next to her. Immediately he stretched his arms out over the back of Elena's chair and the chair on the other side of him. Lifting his feet up, he crossed his ankles and let his feet fall on the back of the chair in the row in front of them. The guy sitting there turned around and glared at him. "Does that bother you?"

The guy mumbled something under his breath, before getting up and moving to another seat. Damon smiled as he kept his eyes on the guy for the entire seat change.

It didn't take long for the lights to dim and the movie to start. Damon enjoyed the movie this time around just as much as he did the first time he'd seen nearly 55 years before.

He watched as James Dean's Cal rescued Julie Harris' Abra from the army idiot at the fair. Just as they were getting onto the Ferris wheel, Damon looked around the theatre. Most of the people watching the movie were couples and most of them were no longer watching the movie. Damon's attention inevitably fell on Elena. She didn't know it, but it was strange how the movie similarly paralleled their lives. Abra was Aron's girlfriend. Aron was Cal's brother. Aron was the good son. Father made him his obvious preference to Cal. Cal was the bad boy. Always getting in trouble. Staying out and not coming home. Even when he was doing good, like using a chute for the lettuce, he'd stolen it from the coal miner's. And there was Abra, caught in the middle of a family feud between the two brothers. She was on the Ferris wheel asking Cal if Aron loved her. Asking if she should wait around for Aron. Then she kissed Cal, but immediately regretted it. She was in love with the good son, but her heart was opening up to the outcast, black sheep, bad son.

Damon wondered if the real life would reflect the movie. Cal proved he was the son their father needed and that he was worthy of Abra's love. Damon thought if he was worthy of Elena's love, or should he walk away. He wasn't sure he could walk away, now. He'd invested himself in Mystic Falls. In Elena. For the first time in all his years being undead, he was allowing his emotions to show. He was letting his humanity out. He was doing it for her. To be closer to her. He saw her turning her head. She must have felt his eyes on her.

He quickly snapped his head back to the movie so he wouldn't get caught staring. He felt sheepish acting like a teenager, but he pretended he hadn't just been staring at her.

Once the credits started to roll, Damon stood up and waited for Elena. Walking out into the path, he blocked the people coming down from the upper levels until Elena moved in front of him. She rolled her eyes at him as she saw the line of people waiting to leave the theatre behind him.

Walking out into the parking lot, Damon asked where Elena was parked. She pointed to the far end of the lot. They had only taken a few steps towards her car when Elena grabbed Damon's hand and started swinging their arms high. "My mom always used to do this with me when walking through a parking lot."

Damon tightened his grip on her hand just moments before twirling her around once and spinning her to his left. Then just as quickly as he spun her, he brought her spinning back toward him, switched hands and spun her to his right. Spinning her back into his arms, he began slowly, not knowing how well practiced she was. Slowly, he lead her through the steps. Either she caught on quickly or had waltzed before, as Damon turned up the pace. They were laughing nearly as hard as Elena was breathing by the time they reached her car. "I can't believe you're not out of breath." Once Elena caught her breath, she looked at Damon. "You're a great dancer."

"Lots of practice." He felt no need to elaborate. Besides, how could he? "Your chariot awaits." Damon motioned to the car.

"Where are you parked?"

Damon shook his head. "I walked."

"What? I'll give you a ride home. That's too far to walk."

Damon turned to the side and ran a hand down his chest. "How do you think I keep my boyish figure?"

Elena brushed off his sarcasm. "There are dangerous things out there." Damon laughed at her. "I'm serious."

"I know." He said with another chuckle. _That's what's funny_. "Anything that's out in the middle of the night is more afraid of me than I am of them."

"I'm not taking no for an answer." Elena set her jaw and refused to get in her car.

Ironically, he hadn't said no. Could he? No!

"As you wish." Damon motioned for her to unlock the door, which she did.

Elena dropped Damon off at the front door of the boarding house. She waited until he was inside to pull away from the house.

"You know, I thought you were serious." Damon heard his brother's voice coming from the den as soon as the door closed. Following the sound of Stefan's voice, he found him standing by the fireplace. "You were so adamant about all of this. And then, like flicking a switch, it's gone. I figured you had some kind of angle you were working. You wouldn't be Damon if you didn't. But, I'll admit, you had me fooled. If only for a short time." Stefan looked up from the fire to look right at Damon. "But I see you now, Damon. I see what you're doing. How many times have you compelled her since you erased her memory? Can you even count that high?"

Damon smirked at his brother. "None. Not once have I compelled her since she asked me to. In fact, I gave her back the vervain necklace." Damon glared at Stefan and tightened his jaw. "Not exactly the answer you were expecting, was it?"

"Then how are you doing it?"

"Do what? You think you're the only Salvatore with redeeming qualities?"

Stefan was looking back at the fire. "Yes." He looked back at his brother before continuing. "Because I am."

Damon was beginning to get angry, but was trying to keep a lid on his temper. He actually didn't want to fight with his brother, but he couldn't really help it if Stefan wanted to fight with him. "Just because I've kept my humanity locked up all these years doesn't mean I don't know how to let it out again."

"So you're sharing your emotions with the world now?" Stefan scoffed at his brother.

"No. Just one person in the world." Damon spat the words back at his brother. There could not have been more hatred behind them.

Stefan didn't respond to Damon with words of his own. Instead, he turned and lunged at his brother. Damon felt the attack coming on and quickly dodged his brother. Stefan hit one of the couches and toppled over it, causing it to fall with him.

"You really wanna fight me? You think you can win?"

Again, Stefan didn't answer his brother, but lunged again.

Damon didn't dodge his second attack, instead, he used Stefan's momentum against him. Throwing Stefan out of the den and against the railing of the stairs, Damon quickly pounced on his brother and yanked him off the ground. Grabbing him by the throat, Damon painfully slammed Stefan against the spindles of the railing. "You really thought you could win, didn't you?"

Stefan tried to speak, but Damon squeezed his throat a little harder. He could hear the bones in Stefan's throat crushing beneath the grip of his hand. "You'd better go hunt down a rabbit before that becomes permanent."

Releasing his brother, Damon left the boarding house.

Elena returned to her home to find her uncle talking in a hushed tone in the kitchen. Not wanting to deal with him, she quietly made her way upstairs to her bedroom and threw on her pajamas. It wasn't late, but she was sure tired. It didn't take long for her body to relax and fall asleep.

"You're back in Mystic Falls?" John whispered on the house phone in the kitchen.

"Someone has to clean up this mess." Isobel replied.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm _going_ to find your ring and get it back. Then I'm out of this hell hole just as quickly as I got here."

John was left listening to dead air as Isobel hung up on him again. He moved to his bedroom, but knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. He just hoped that Elena or Jeremy hadn't taken the ring. He didn't know if he'd be able to stop Isobel from hurting either one of them. Jeremy was his nephew. He wished no harm on the boy. Elena was his daughter. He didn't know how far he would go to protect her, and he didn't want that tested with Isobel. He listened to the sounds of the house. Everything was calm and quiet.

Damon sat at the window to Elena's bedroom. He peered in at her sleeping form in bed. He wanted nothing more than to slip under the covers with her, but knew he couldn't. Aside from the obvious reasons, how would he explain how he got in her room, in her bed, with no one noticing.

Instead, he chose to just watch her for a few moments before getting up and making three laps around the house to make sure there was nothing dangerous. Once he decided that everything was safe, he headed back to the boarding house. Hopefully Stefan would leave him alone. With a crushed windpipe, there really wasn't much use in trying to converse. _At least that's something to look forward to._ Damon smiled as he walked back through the front door of the boarding house.


	7. The Smell of Fear

It was Monday morning and Elena's body didn't want to get up. She'd come home later than planned the night before after her movie with Damon. Not that she regretted staying out, quite the opposite. She had enjoyed going to see a movie with Damon. It wasn't necessarily a movie she would have picked, but she'd enjoyed it nonetheless.

Forcing herself out of bed, she trudged through her morning routine of taking a shower and getting dressed. Grabbing the most comfortable clothes, she slipped into them before heading downstairs for a quick breakfast and heading off to school. Of all days, Jeremy asked for a ride to school, which just threw Elena further off track.

She stumbled into history class about five minutes before the bell. She sat down at her desk only to notice she had her math book instead of her history book. Sighing heavily, she looked around the room. Since breaking up with Stefan, he'd taken to sitting in the back of the room, away from her. She smiled softly when her eyes met his. He returned it, but it was obviously forced. Seconds later, Caroline and Bonnie came in and dropped into their seats on either side of Elena. Spinning their chairs, Elena was feeling a confrontation coming on, but didn't know what they could possibly be after her about.

"So, what's up with you and Damon Salvatore?" Caroline asked without interlude.

Elena looked at her puzzled. "Nothing's up. We're friends."

"I thought you were done with the Salvatores when you broke up with Stefan." Bonnie chimed in from Elena's other side.

Elena turned to her best friend, "I broke up with Stefan; not an entire family."

"So are you two dating?" Caroline was not known for prancing around asking the questions she wanted to answered. There was no subtle switch with Caroline.

"I already said, we're just friends." Elena had no idea that Stefan was listening intently to the entire conversation. He wanted, scratch that, needed to know if her story corroborated with Damon's.

"Friends that see each other every day?" Bonnie questioned.

"I see you guys every day." Elena was trying her best not to get flustered. It was certainly shaping up to be a bad day.

"But we don't take you out to the movies." Bonnie replied.

"You're spying on me?" Elena was quickly moving from puzzled by the sudden inquisition to pissed off.

"No." Bonnie answered honestly. "Caroline and I were there last night. Matt was supposed to come but his schedule changed and he couldn't make it."

"And we saw you with Damon." Caroline finished Bonnie's explanation.

"Again, we're friends so we do things together."

Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but Alaric walked into the room and immediately started class apologizing for being a few minutes tardy.

Elena was grateful for class starting. As much as she didn't really want to be in class, she preferred it to the Grand Inquisitors sitting on either side of her. All through class, Elena could feel Bonnie and Caroline taking glances are her as if they were questioning her honesty about Damon. Elena could feel another set of eyes on her, but couldn't place who was staring.

As soon as the bell rang to end class, Caroline dismissed herself needing to hit her locker before running to the opposite side of the school in order to make gym class on time. Bonnie took the private time to confront Elena. "Elena, I thought you finally understood the danger of being around the Salvatores. Why are yo--"

"Elena, can I have a word?" Alaric called from his desk.

"I'll catch ya later, Bonnie."

Bonnie didn't want to end their conversation, but nodded and grabbed her belongings anyway.

Elena picked up her books, and walked to the front of the classroom. "What did you need, Mr. Saltzman?"

Alaric smiled. "Nothing actually. You just looked like you needed to be saved from the conversation."

Elena grinned as she let out her breath. "Thanks, you were right. I don't know what the big deal is. Damon and I are just friends."

It was Alaric's turn to grin. "Your aunt invited me over for dinner tonight. Is that okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I'm just making sure it's not too weird for you. You know, me dating your aunt."

"Anyone's better than Logan Fell."

"That's comforting." Alaric smirked.

Elena smiled a full genuine smile. "Besides, you're my favorite history teacher by far."

Alaric nodded while smiling back at Elena. "See you tonight then." Elena left with a quick wave then disappeared into the crowded hallway. "He's doomed." Alaric whispered before going back to the paperwork on his desk.

It was early evening when Damon opened the front door of the boarding house. He'd been enjoying the peace and quiet of the house since Stefan was not fully healed and was still unable to talk. "Anna? What d'you want?"

"It's Isobel."

"What about her?" Damon was quickly loosing his patience.

"She's back, and she figured out that Jeremy has John's ring. I couldn't get in the house. She had a handful of thugs at the front door. I couldn't get past them."

"So of course you search out the Mystic Fall Good Samaritan." Damon closed the door in her face. Anna just stood there shocked. She'd gone to Damon for help because she thought he was the only that would help her. Even if it was only for Elena. Then the door opened up and Damon walked out. "Needed my jacket." Damon slipped his arms into the sleeves while he walked to his car. While waiting for Anna to get in, he sent a quick text then headed for the Gilbert House.

Meanwhile, Jeremy was trapped in his room. When his uncle knocked on the door and asked to come in, Jeremy assumed he wanted to have another heart-to-heart talk. So you can imagine his surprise when he saw Isobel on the other side of the door standing behind his uncle.

She'd pushed her way into the room, keeping the two Gilbert males in front of her. She didn't trust either of them. "You have something that doesn't belong to you." She wasn't accusing. She wasn't questioning. She was making a statement. "Give it back now, and I'll make your death quick and painless."

John's head snapped back at her. "You never said anything about hurting him."

"I learned a long time ago, not to fill you in on all the details." Isobel explained and turned her attention back to Jeremy. "Now, last chance, where's the ring?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jeremy was trying to weasel his way out of the situation. It always worked with Elena, but he should have known better than to think that it would work with the vampire.

The side of Isobel's grin lifted. "You think I can't tell you're lying? Your heart is beating faster every second. Fear is pouring off of you in waves."

"Maybe that's because there's a homicidal vampire in my room." Jeremy barked at her.

Isobel smiled fully. "Compliments will get you nowhere. Now, tell me where the ring is." She moved closer, but kept John in her line of vision.

Reaching out her hand to grab at Jeremy's throat, she could hear the stutter of his heart as fear completely overwhelmed his body. Her hand was nearly around his throat when the bedroom door flew open and the next thing Isobel knew she was being thrown against the wall furthest from Jeremy.

"Get him out of here." Damon spoke to vampire perched on the window sill. Jeremy turned around to see Anna waiting for him. Anna nodded at Damon and got Jeremy to safety.

Isobel started to rise off the floor. Looking over to John, she saw Alaric holding him against the wall. "You brought dinner." Isobel tried joking with Damon, but knew once the words came out of her mouth there was no use. He wasn't there on a friendly visit. He was there to protect. "My guards?"

"What guards?" Damon asked, with a smirk of his own. "Oh, you mean the headless bodies I tossed in the back yard. Yea, you're gonna have to clean that up. You should get on it before it stains." Damon tried hinting for Isobel to leave peacefully.

Isobel looked to John. He took her look as a command to deal with the bodies. With a last glance at Damon, he left the room as soon as Alaric released him. John was glad to be out of the line of fire. Alaric stood back, allowing Damon to take the lead against his vampire ex-wife.

"I thought you left for good."

"I did to, but apparently you can't leave humans to do a few simple commands. They never follow through."

"I taught you that, apparently you weren't listening."

"Oh, I was, but since you've taken to using humans as more than just a food source, I thought I'd try it too."

"Do as I say, not as I do." Damon replied playing the father. "You're going to leave Mystic Falls, and not come back this time. The ring belongs to the boy now. I won't revisit this." Damon was about to continue further, but heard the front door open and close downstairs.

"Ooo, company." Isobel's eyes lighted up at the prospect.

Damon looked at Alaric. "Elena. Keep her downstairs."

Alaric nodded and left the room without looking at Isobel.

When Jeremy's bedroom door was closed, Damon grabbed Isobel and shoved her against the wall again. This time he used his body to keep her in place. "You will leave Mystic Falls, and you'll tell your errand boy to stay away from here."

"You act as though your threats are real." Damon glared at her response. Isobel laughed, her body still trapped between Damon and the wall. "When Katherine finds out how you've been acting you'll be eating your words."

Damon leaned closer. "I thought I made it clear the last time you were in town that if Katherine has a problem with me, _she_ can come tell me. Your threats are petty and useless. Can you smell that?" Damon sniffed the air. "I can smell the fear coming off _you_. Now, you _will_ stay away, or you will find out exactly how short forever is." Damon's threat of death was taken very serious as Isobel's smile immediately faded.

Damon disappeared out the window, only to knock on the front door a few moments later. Alaric opened the door and looked at Damon, then up to Jeremy's room. "She should be gone, and John will be departing soon." Damon kept his voice no louder than a whisper. He could sense Elena trying to look around Alaric to see who was at the front door. "Elena here?" Damon asked, a little louder than his normal voice.

"Yea. Right here." Alaric answered and called Elena to the door.

"Found these at the boarding house. You must have forgotten them at some point." Damon held out a pair of Elena's sunglasses.

"Thanks, Damon."

Damon nodded and smiled at Elena before shifting his gaze to Alaric. He turned and walked down the street to where he'd parked his car. Anna and Jeremy were waiting inside. "This is safety?" Damon peered in the back window.

"I didn't know where else to take him, besides I didn't want to be too far away in case you needed me."

"That's funny. You almost sound serious when you say that." Damon scoffed. He opened the door. "You can go home now." He waited til they were out to close the door. He grabbed Jeremy's arm. "That ring is yours. It belonged to your father. John never should have had it."

Damon hopped in the driver seat and quickly sped away from the Gilbert House. He wasn't ready to go home, so an impromptu stop at the Mystic Grill was in order. He was beginning to really enjoy the atmosphere.

While Damon gulped glass after glass of scotch, Stefan was exercising the muscles in his neck trying to see if he was healed yet. Hearing a knock at the front door, he hopped out of his bed and jogged down the stairs. Opening the door, he was greeted by a familiar face. "Elena?" He croaked.

* * *

A/N: now, let me know what you guys think....


	8. A Decision Made

A/N: since you've all patiently waited, i've jampacked this chapter with all kinds of goodies....there's only one chapter left....

-Reaper

* * *

It was hours later when Damon stumbled in the front door of the boarding house. Without a glance in the direction of the den, where he knew Stefan was, Damon moved for the steps. "I'm going to my room. A locked door is not a friendly invitation." Damon missed a step and almost went down, but quickly caught his balance and continued up the steps.

"Damon!" Stefan called while walking out of the den to the hallway where the stairs were. "We have company."

Damon glanced at his brother before returning all his focus to the steps in front of him. "I know." In a louder voice, he called to the other person that was still in the den, but making her way toward the brothers. "Hi Katherine!" A few more steps and he would be upstairs. "Nice having you around again. Feel free to drop dead." Top of the steps, and Damon did an internal happy dance before disappearing down the hall to his bedroom.

Stefan stared at his brother, amazed that he knew it was Katherine, but more amazed by his comment to Katherine. If Damon really meant it, maybe he really did love Elena after all and this wasn't some scheme he was working. Stefan momentarily contemplated if there was a chance Damon could love Elena more than himself. Stefan was surely insecure about himself. He always questioned himself. It was his curse. The one he'd had since he turned. He was constantly in an internal struggle with his dark side. Damon had accepted his dark side readily, and apparently, he was able to turn it on and off. Stefan quickly shook the thoughts from his head, dismissing that his brother could possibly love more truly than he could.

Katherine moved to the steps silently, and Stefan watched her. If she was going to go up to Damon, he was going with. Standing outside Damon's bedroom door, Stefan watched Katherine's hand wrap around the knob. It was locked. Without the slightest struggle, she twisted and the lock broke. The door swung open and Katherine walked in. "At least one of my children recognizes me." Katherine commented as she watched Damon undress. He didn't even turn around to acknowledge her in the room.

For a moment, Katherine allowed herself to absorb Damon and his naked body. It had been too long since she'd been around the brothers, and her libido was certainly responding. There was no denying the sexiness that just emanated off Damon. "What are we gonna do about this childe of yours?" She finally asked, snapping out of her trance.

Damon finally turned around to face her. He was only shirtless, having slipped into his cotton pajama bottoms. "Mine? She's here doing your dirty work." Damon accused, but read the puzzled look on Katherine's face as if she had spoken the words. With wild eyes and the smirk of all smirks, he continued, "Oh, and the plot thickens. She's not here doing anything for you, is she?"

Katherine stared at Damon. Apparently she was missing some of the information and she didn't like that. She was supposed to be the one with all the information. Without a word, she turned on her heel and walked out of Damon's room, hell bent on hunting down her descendant. The two had more than enough to talk about.

Damon watched her leave, but didn't follow. Nothing she was about to do concerned him in any way. Stefan watched Katherine leave and Damon sit down on the chair in his room. With a chuckle, he watched Damon open up a book and start reading.

Someone needed to make sure Mystic Falls didn't become the battleground for the two vampiresses, and Stefan took it upon himself to take on the challenge. He followed Katherine out of the boarding house.

Keeping a safe distance, he knew that Katherine had to know he was following her, but she never hinted to it, and she didn't stop him.

He followed her through the heart of Mystic Falls. She was hunting. That much was obvious, and he only hoped that no one got in her way. When he realized what was about to happen it was too late. He couldn't prevent it. Katherine walked right into Elena. Elena stood in shock looking at her mirror twin, but personal opposite. Stefan got to them just as Elena fainted. Grabbing her body off the ground, he looked up to Katherine. "Right blood. Wrong body." Katherine said, before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

Stefan watched her disappear from his sight. Picking up Elena, he headed for the Gilbert house. Walking up the front steps with Elena in his arms, he struggled momentarily to hit the door bell. Slightly surprised when Alaric opened the door, Stefan motioned to enter the house.

"Yea, come in. What happened?" Alaric asked, leading Stefan into the living room, he cleared the couch for Stefan to put Elena down.

Once she was out of his arms, Stefan looked at Alaric, "She ran into Katherine."

Alaric immediately looked down at Elena and moved her hair so he could see her neck. "She didn't bite her?"

"She wasn't looking for Elena." Alaric looked back at Stefan. "She's looking for Isobel."

Alaric was torn between helping Elena, a girl he'd come to care about, almost as if she were his own child and his ex-wife turned evil vampire. "What happened?" Alaric made his decision. Elena was far more important than the woman that left him to be turned without so much as a goodbye or see ya around.

Stefan was confused. He was sure Alaric would go after Isobel; try to protect her. It seemed as though everyone was surprising Stefan these days. "She fainted when she saw Katherine. Not remembering about vampires, she didn't know who Katherine was. I guess that's a good thing."

"Very good thing; for her at least. Did you tell Damon?"

_Damon?_ Of all the things Alaric could have or should have questioned him about. What's Katherine doing back in town? Is she killing? Does she need to be killed? Has she hurt anyone? He asked if Damon knew that Elena had fainted. She wasn't even injured, and Alaric wanted to make sure Damon knew that she'd fainted. "No, but if you stay here with her, I'll go call him." Alaric nodded and Stefan went onto the front porch to call his brother.

Katherine found Isobel, but not before Damon did. Damon had her pinned against a tree, his hand around her throat. When he felt Katherine's presence, he backed off, but not enough that Isobel could escape. Allowing Katherine to take the lead, he stepped back once Katherine's hand was around Isobel's throat instead of his own. "You come here under the pretense that you're doing my bidding and you work with a human, a _Gilbert_ nonetheless. Did you really expect that I wouldn't find out?"

Isobel was clearing fearing for her life. She hadn't taken Damon's threat as seriously as she should have and stayed in Mystic Falls. She had not anticipated Katherine's arrival. Of all the places in the world, Isobel was sure that Mystic Falls was the last place Katherine would come; especially with the Salvatore brothers in town. She'd spent the last century and a half avoiding the brothers. "I came to protect my daughter." Isobel was obviously trying to protect her own ass.

"Speaking of which, how dare you mix _my_ blood with a Gilbert? What were you thinking?"

"I was young, and, and it was just...I didn't know about vampires. I didn't know about you."

"That is no excuse." Katherine's eyes turned red and the veins under them were clearly visible.

"Katherine, I didn't mean to--"

"You didn't mean to what? Piss me off? Too late." Katherine twisted her wrist and Isobel's neck snapped, her limbs went limp. "That is one thing you should have learned in your short, short life." Twisting her wrist just a little further, she severed Isobel's neck.

Katherine turned around to see Damon on his phone. He was pulling it away from his ear and hanging up when Katherine turned. Smiling at him, she began, "I may not approve of Isobel and John's having a child, but Elena is still of my blood. You're not considering her a replacement of me--"

"She was. How could she not?" Damon admitted. He was slightly ashamed of it, but his initial attraction to Elena was based on the fact that she looked just like Katherine. Then he'd gotten to know her. "But she isn't. Honestly, never could be, either. Katherine," Damon looked his ex-lover square in the face, "I love her. I'm in love with her."

Katherine's face twisted slightly. "And if she chooses Stefan?"

Damon smirked himself. "_When _she chooses Stefan," a sad smile entered his features, one he usually hid from everyone, "I'll lay off the eternity of misery for him."

"You don't know she'll choose him."

"She'd be crazy not to."

Katherine hated seeing that sad look on Damon's face. His handsome face did not wear a frown properly, like it was never meant to frown. "Come with me."

The frown disappeared from his face and was replaced by his usual smile. Finally, the words he'd waited forever to hear, and now they were coming out of the wrong mouth. "You'd only be a cheap replacement of Elena." His words cut through both of them as he realized just how devoted he was to Elena. Walking forward, Damon took Katherine's small delicate hand in his own. Bringing it to his lips, he kissed the top of it and held it while he said, "Until we meet again."

With a grin on her face, Katherine replied, "Take care of her. She's human. She's fragile." Katherine knew if she ever did come across Damon again, his lips would never touch her flesh. His hand would never hold hers again because his heart belonged to another. It was in that moment that Katherine began to regret what she'd done all those years before to the Salvatore brothers.

Moving as fast as he could, Damon ran to Elena's home. Without knocking on the door, Damon barged into the Gilbert house. Finding his brother and Alaric sitting in the living room, his eyes immediately found Elena. "Elena."

Spinning her head to see him, Elena stood up from the couch and walked over to her friend. Wrapping her arms around his waist, he returned the gesture. "Damon." She whispered into his chest. "I don't know what's going on."

Damon listened to her babbling about running into a woman that looked just like her and then waking up on her couch. How could there be someone that looked just like her? And here in Mystic Falls? Damon looked to Stefan and Alaric and the two stood up and left the living room. Alaric took Stefan out the back door, the friends needed privacy and Stefan's sensitive hearing wouldn't allow that if they just went to the kitchen.

"Elena, sit down." Damon didn't want to have the conversation he was going to have, but he knew he had to. It was the only way to keep his promise. Elena did as instructed. Damon sat down next to her, but couldn't look her in the eye right away. Gritting his teeth, he finally made eye contact. "I know you don't understand any of this, and I can't explain it. It's all part of that promise." Elena questioned him with her eyes. "I can't tell you anymore than that." Elena made to interrupt him. "There's more. You have to let me finish." She nodded. "Everything will go back to the way it belongs after graduation. There won't be any more of these, these incidents."

"How can you be so sure it will all end after graduation?"

"Because Stefan and I will be leaving Mystic Falls."

"What? Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet, but everything will be right. Trust me." Damon stood up and headed for the front door, but Elena grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Why can't I come with you?"

Damon took her hand off of his. "You just can't." He walked out the front door as Stefan and Alaric came in from the kitchen.

"Where'd he go?" Stefan asked.

"Wherever he wants." Elena replied before running up to her bedroom.

Stefan and Alaric followed her until she couldn't be seen and then looked at each other. Stefan moved to head for the steps. "You won't help any." Alaric stopped him. "Go home." Alaric grabbed his jacket as he ushered Stefan out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To make sure Damon doesn't do something stupid."

Stefan didn't want to admit it,but Alaric was right. "I should come too, just in case--"

"In case he's pissed off? Yea, I don't think you'll be much help."

Again, Stefan couldn't argue Alaric's logic.

Going their separate ways, Stefan told Alaric to call if he needed assistance with Damon.

Alaric walked in the door of the Mystic Grill. If he knew Damon as well as he thought he did, the vampire was going to want to get drunk, and _not _be around Stefan at the same time. Nodding his head, he walked over to the bar and slid into the bar stool next to Damon. There was an empty glass pushed forward in front of Damon with four upside-down shot glasses. "You're an idiot, ya know." Alaric motioned to the bartender that he didn't want a drink and to _not _refill Damon's glass. Damon turned with glassy eyes to the history teacher. Alaric knew Damon could kill him in a heartbeat if he wanted to. "You're in love with her and you have her in love with you. And you're gonna give that up."

"So I tell her what I am. Explain what I did. Explain everything. Then she runs back to Stefan's open arms."

"Again, you're an idiot!"

Damon shrugged as he spun the chair to face Alaric. "How this time?"

"She did all of this because she couldn't take it. Couldn't handle being Katherine and making both of you miserable. She did it because she didn't want to be forced with making that choice. And you still don't get it." Damon wasn't following Alaric's train of thought. "She left the decision, the choice up to you and Stefan. Which ever one of you loved her more wouldn't be able to give her up. If you haven't noticed, Stefan gave up." Damon was beginning to follow, but the alcohol was diminishing the rate at which his brain could function. "You made her decision the second you decided that the two of you could be friends." With that, Damon nodded his head. He was following, and Alaric was making perfect sense. "Now go get the damn girl and stop moping around here with that pouty lip before I'm forced to hit you."

* * *

A/N: you didn't really think i was gonna let damon off like that, did you? ...as always, let me know what you thought of the chapter.... (is it obvious that i like alaric?)


	9. Emergency Contact

A/N: finally, the end....the part i've had planned out all along....hope you guys have enjoyed the ride...

-Fen

* * *

Damon stared at Alaric for a moment, before getting up and walking out of the Mystic Grill. Somewhat disoriented by his intoxication, he wasn't able to move at vampire speed. He was forced to walk at a normal _human_ pace and it was beginning to piss him off. By the time he reached the boarding house, most of his buzz was gone. Taking the stairs a few at a time, he darted into his bedroom, grabbed the book in the second drawer of his night stand and dashed back down the stairs. Grabbing his car keys as he made his way out the door, he refused to be as slow as a human.

Tossing the book on the passenger seat, he drove at a slightly faster than reasonable speed to Elena's house. By "faster than slightly reasonable speed", Damon's odometer didn't go below fifty. Skidding to a halt in front of the Gilbert house, Damon jumped out of the car and ran for the front door. As his feet hit the first step, he rolled his eyes, spun around and ran back to the car. Reaching across the driver seat, he grabbed the book off the passenger seat. _What am I doing?_ Damon wasn't sure yet. All he knew was that Alaric had made perfect sense half an hour ago, but now that he was standing in front of Elena's house, he wasn't so sure. Shaking his head, he walked to the front door. If it sounded like a good idea half an hour ago, it was still a good idea.

Damon knocked on the front door and waited for an answer. There was none. _I know she's in there_. _I pissed her off enough._ Of course, he pissed her off. She was in her room. Making his way around to the other side of the house, Damon quickly climbed up to Elena's window. She'd left it open. _Foolish girl._ Climbing in the window, he remained silent. She was sitting on her bed, writing in her journal. Her face was tear stained. _She needs to know._ Damon purposefully kicked the wall below the window frame.

Elena jumped and slammed her journal shut when she saw Damon sitting on her window sill. "Damon." She spat the word as if it were poison on her tongue.

"I deserve that." Damon replied. He had treated her like a child earlier, and she deserved so much more than that. _You made her decision the second you decided that the two of you could be friends._ Alaric's words echoed in Damon's head. "Elena." Damon grit his teeth, but continued. "I'm a vampire."

Elena couldn't help but laugh. She'd been expected some serious revelation or admission from him, and instead, he tells her he's a vampire.

Raising his eyebrows and shrugging his shoulders, Damon continued, "So is Stefan."

Elena furrowed her brows. "You're serious?" She questioned. Damon lifted his hand. The one holding her journal. The one he'd read at least a hundred times in the short time he had it. "What's that?"

"Your journal."

"Why do you have it?" Elena wasn't making the connection between Damon's joke of him and Stefan being vampires and the fact that he had her journal. At least not yet.

"You left it for me before I compelled you to forget about vampires." Damon held the journal out to her while she approached him. Once she was within striking distance, Damon grabbed her in his arms and pulled her against him. Without a warning, he crushed his mouth against hers. He slipped his tongue between her lips and explored her mouth. She kissed back with as much fervor and passion. She'd never planned on falling in love with Damon. She just did. Pulling away from her mouth, Damon put his mouth next to her ear. "I love you, but you need to remember." Releasing her, he pushed her journal into her waiting hands and disappeared out the window he'd come in.

Running at lightning speed to his car, he was gone before she could even think of a response.

Damon walked into the boarding house and held his hand up to his brother. He didn't want to be bothered by Stefan's incessant goodness. He'd had enough good for one day.

It was hours later when a knock came to the boarding house door. Stefan glared upstairs, knowing his brother wouldn't answer the door. Upon opening the door, Stefan was greeted by Elena's smiling face. He couldn't help but smile back. He saw the journal in her hand. "Elena?"

"Hi Stefan." Stefan moved so she could walk into the house. As soon as she was in, she pulled him into a hug.

Stefan leaned into it, having thought he would never feel Elena's arms around his body again. "So you remember everything?"

She held the journal up. "Yea. It kinda jogged my memory."

"I can't believe Damon agreed to compel you in the first place."

Elena smiled. "Speaking of him, is Damon here?"

"Upstairs. He's been in his room since he got back."

Elena moves to the large staircase. Putting her foot on the first step, she could feel Stefan behind her. "It's okay." She turned around to look at him. "Stefan, I'm safe with Damon. He's protected me even when I didn't know it." Nodding, Stefan backed off. He understood what she wasn't saying.

Slowly walking up the stairs, Elena turned at the top and started toward Damon's bedroom door. Knocking once, she waited for an answer, but didn't get one. She knocked again. Still no answer. The lock was still busted from Katherine barging into the room. Elena pushed the door just enough to fit her head through. She smiled at the sight before her.

Damon was sitting in his leather chair; one leg over an arm and a small table pulled up next to him. On the table sat two glasses. One with an amber colored liquid and one with a burgundy colored liquid-appearing almost black. There was only one other object on the table, a black iPod nano with a black cord that trailed from the table up to Damon's ears where the buds were blasting music. Elena could faintly hear the rhythm of the song playing. His phone was resting on the one leg not draped over the side and he held a book in one hand. While reading the book, he occasionally brought the phone up to look at the screen. It must have been on vibrate as Elena never heard the ringer go off. Back and forth, Damon went from book to phone, never once noticing the head that was peering at him from the door. After setting the phone back down on his leg, he clicked a few buttons on the nano, obviously advancing to a song he preferred, then back to the phone. He chuckled then put the phone down. Tossing the book on his bed and leaning his head back, he reached behind him and grabbed a different book. Quickly flipping to the middle, he began reading, only to turn and pick up the glass of blood and take a drink. Setting the glass back down, he picked up the phone to read the newly arrived text message. _Hi._

Damon looked up, finally seeing Elena standing at his door. The genuine smile reached up to eyes. Elena noticed immediately that it wasn't one of his fake smiles that he used for show. Tossing the book and phone on the bed, and pulling the ear buds from his ears, Damon stood up from the chair. "Elena."

"Damon." She paused, knowing exactly how she wanted to continue, but didn't want him knowing that. "I read my journal." Damon nodded. So she remembered. "Strange really. I actually kinda remember everything. Some parts are still hazy though."

"Stefan must be ecstatic."

"Yea. He seemed happy to hear when I told him."

"Good." Damon was getting impatient. The conversation was not going how he'd planned it. He'd planned for her to come running into his room and throw her arms around his neck. That hadn't happened. Instead she was standing on the other side of the room, just talking.

"I wanted to come and say thank you."

The smile faded from Damon's face as he smirked at her. "For what? Breaking my promise or going against your wishes?" Before Elena could respond, Damon dismissed her. "You know what? I can hear Stefan pinning for you downstairs. You should get back to the lost puppy dog."

Elena smiled as Damon turned away from her. She wouldn't be sent away that easily. "For not giving up."

Damon's mind immediately traveled to the conversation with Alaric. He turned around to look at her, just a little confused.

With a smirk of her own, Elena said, "I really don't want to have to change the emergency contact in my phone."

Damon laughed and smirked and grinned all at the same time. "Fine." He agreed. "But I always get to pick out the movies."

Elena scoffed at him. "But I can pick them out sometimes."

"No!" Damon waved a finger in her face as he moved closer to her. "I _always_ get to pick them."

"Then I pick the snacks."

"You _are_ my snack."

Elena scrunched her face. "Eww. Gross."

Damon loved their banter. He always had. "And dancing whenever I want." He wrinkled his brow when she didn't say anything. "No arguments?"

"Nope." She popped the p. "You're a good dancer, but you have to hang out with my friends sometimes, too."

Grinning, Damon wrapped his arms around her waist. "Can I snack on them?"

"No, you cannot snack on my friends."

Damon leaned down and kissed her throat. "Dinner. Once a week with your aunt and the history teacher."

Elena chuckled which surprised Damon. For a moment his fangs brushed against her neck. He was amazed when Elena didn't even miss a beat. "They have names you know."

He smiled into her neck. "I know." His voice was no louder than a whisper.

"Why dinner once a week with them?"

Damon pulled away from her neck. "I owe Ric." _Actually we owe Ric, but you don't need to know that._

Elena shrugged an agreement. "And we have to travel."

Damon pulled away from her taking her hand and twirling her about his room while he spoke. "A lot and everywhere. Every inch of the world until you've seen it all and then we'll start all over again."

"You're excited." She gasped when he dipped her and brought his face in front of hers.

"To share the world with someone else? I've been waiting one hundred and forty-five years to do that. I don't plan on letting the opportunity pass me up."

Damon pulled Elena up but held her body close to his as he cascaded her around the room. "So we'll keep traveling?"

Damon nodded. "Until we get sick of the world and by that time, we'll be ready to take our rings off and greet and early sunrise together."

For the first time, Elena thought of herself as a vampire. Obviously that was Damon's plan. He wanted to spend forever with her. How else could they do that? Of course, she would be turned. Eventually. "Should we bring Stefan?" Elena joked.

"No." Damon replied, but deep down inside, he admitted to himself that he wouldn't mind having his brother's company. Occasionally. _Very_ occasionally.

"So do I get to see my ring?"

Damon pushed her back and held her at arm's length. "Moving a little fast don't ya think. You just remembered me and already you wanna get married?"

Elena punched him in the arm, but couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth. "Smart ass."

Pulling her into his arms once again and kissing her quickly, he whispered, "Get used to it."

Stefan was patiently sitting in the den. He wasn't able to hear everything that was going on upstairs, but he was able to get the basic idea. He'd won. Damon got the girl again. Stefan pretended like he hadn't been listening to them when he heard them coming down the stairs. While Elena walked into the kitchen to grab a drink, Stefan stopped Damon in his tracks. Holding onto his brother's arm, Stefan spoke in a low whisper that even if Elena had been standing right there, she wouldn't be able to hear him. "Hope you're happy, Damon. You've won the girl twice."

Damon smirked and brushed Stefan's hand off his arm. "That's your problem, Stef. You've seen them both as prizes to be won. I simply fell in love with them."


End file.
